W is for Weddings

Well we only have 3 more weeks of school for Alphabe-Thursday and then we start on some summer activities that Mrs. Matlock has planned for our class.


This week we are working on the letter "W" and what could be more appropriate in June than WEDDINGS! I have vintage photos of weddings, recent weddings, wedding dolls, and magazine articles on weddings and wedding dresses. Please click on each photo to enlarge for a better and clearer picture.

This first wedding photo was probably taken in 1919 when my mother was 5 years old. She is the little girl on the right with a big bow and a bouquet almost as big as she is!

This next photo is from the 1930's and my mother is on the right again sitting next to the flower girl who is standing. Notice that my mother is the only one with her hat tilted in a different direction!
My mother is on the right again sitting next to the flower girl. This photo was probably taken in the 1920's when carrying gigantic bouquets was in style. Can you imagine being able to afford those flowers today??????
This photo is of my husband's grandparents, Pauline and James. It was taken in 1922.
My grandparents are in the next photo which was taken in 1913. My grandmother was 15 and probably not too happy to be marrying a man she hardly knew. They were married for 43 years before my grandfather passed away.
This photo is of my parents and it was taken in 1943 right before my father left for Europe and WWII. My parents were together for 55 years before my dad passed away. My mother, who lives with us, will be 96 years old in September.
Here is my mother's wedding dress and veil (top part of the picture) from 1943. She has kept it all these years and I will, in turn, pass it to my daughter so the dress will stay in the family. I can't believe that I let my daughter play "dress-up" in this gown!! What was I thinking??????????

My 1978 wedding announcement

My 1978 wedding

My daughter and her husband on their wedding day

This bride doll is from my childhood. She wasn't originally a bride doll but my mother bought the bride dress when she had the doll restrung. The face on this doll is still as clear and as pretty as ever.
Here is a 1952 or 1953 photo of me (on the right) with my cousin holding our dolls. This is the doll from the previous photo.

Here is a vintage ad for wedding dresses. I believe it is from 1932.

I bought a series of 4 bride dolls from Ashton-Drake with an interesting story behind them. Each doll is related and they all have on a variation of the same dress.

This first photo is of Elizabeth with the dress from the 1900's.

Here is Betty (Elizabeth's daughter) in the dress with a 1930's style.

In this photo, you see Beth (Betty's daughter) in the dress with a 1960's style.

Finally there is Lisa (Beth's daughter) in the dress with a 1990's flair.
Each dress over the span of 90 years seems to have the bottom lace in common.

Here is the magazine rendition of the first 3 dolls wearing the dress. Trust me, the magazine photo is much better than my individual photos of the dolls.
Here are all 4 dolls but the picture is rather small. Hopefully you can click to enlarge.
This is linked to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "W".

V is for VINTAGE

Our teacher, Mrs. Matlock, has assigned our class the letter "V" for this week as part of Alphabe-Thursday. I thought of many things to write about, but I finally decided to post photos of some vintage items that I have. The things I'm writing about are quite varied, so relax and enjoy the photos of a time gone by when fashion had a whole different look, magazine ads were quite stylish, cars were cheaper, childhood toys were simple, and history was being made.


This first photo is of a vintage booklet printed in 1938. The lady on the cover reminds me of Donna Reed with her fresh dress, nice smile, and perfect hair. The man has on a tie and so does the little boy which would probably not be on a current cover of any book for today's homemakers! Even the dog seems to be smiling in this idyllic family setting. This 1942 vintage ad shows a sailor skating with a pretty girl dressed and coiffed for the occasion while drawing attention to razor blades being sold for either a dime or 27 cents!

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that my mother saved many sentimental things. This photo shows the 1948 calendar when I was born. My birthday is May 12, 1948, and you can see that sour cream peach pie was the pie of the month. I also have calendars like this from 1949 and 1952 but I don't know why my mother saved these two specific years.
Ahhh, speaking of vintage toys....you can see doll shoes that belonged to my Vogue Ginny and Jill dolls (two white with straps, pink, red and the white strap heels). The black shoes and the cream-colored shoes with bows belonged to other vintage dolls that I had (actually I still might have the dolls that match the shoes but they are packed away).
I never heard of Vera Borea but apparently she was a countess that brought haute couture on her visit to America. Interesting fashion indeed.
I chuckled when I saw this vintage 1932 ad for "little women or larger-hip figures". Did Paris designers actually think that some women were fuller and shorter than their slim, tall model counterparts?
I've always liked this graduation card from 1966 which was the year that I graduated from high school. Could this actually be vintage???? Yikes!!! Does anyone else remember flips, heavy bangs, headbands, gloves (which were a MUST) and puffy sleeves on delicate dresses? Lord, give me strength!
The next two photos show hats that I think are so striking. Apparently high crowns, ribbon and feathers were important in some vintage fashion.

This vintage photo is of my grandmother (second from the right) and it was probably taken around 1910 or 1911. More fashion of the time but not from Paris!
This next vintage photo is of my mother and her brother, Peter, taken between 1925 and 1927. Wavy hair and sack dresses must have been popular then.
My 1966 Ford Mustang!!!! My parents bought this car for me when I was in college. I drove this car for many years and I still drive it occasionally! My husband really likes this Mustang and he has had a lot of work done to it. I wasn't happy about it because my baby blue Mustang isn't totally original anymore, but so many people have told me that my car is worth more money now. I hope that my grandson likes it because it will be his car one day.
A car for $535!!!! Hmmmm, seems vintage to me! Notice the cartoon ad in the background. It is for a Mickey Mouse animated cartoon with the original mouse character as Walt Disney drew it so many years ago.
This next photo is a small portion of a vintage table cloth that my mother embroidered in the 1930's. She spent quite a bit of time working on this and I wish you could see all of it. The table cloth is quite large and her work is very precise.
A cute vintage Valentine with two darling children sharing hearts and flowers.
My father saved quite a bit of WWII history because he was part of it. He served in North Africa during WWII and he was a very proud veteran. I have many vintage newspapers, but this one stands out. It was printed as an extra edition on December 7, 1941 in the territory of Hawaii. The news was transmitted via "transpacific telephone" by the associated press and the paper cost all of 5 cents! I wish that I had taken a better picture of the newspaper but I was in a hurry.
Thank you for going on my vintage and historic journey and please visit others participating in Alphabe-Thursday. This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter V.

"U" is for unbiased

Here we are again celebrating another class of Alphabe-Thursday with our teacher, Mrs. Matlock. She has assigned the letter "U" for our class to work on this week, and I found it a bit challenging until I decided on a subject. The focus of my "U" paper is my utterly, undeniably photogenic granddaughter, Lillian Sarah. Of course you all know that my opinion on this matter is completely unbiased!!!! Sooooo...the ultimate goal of this post is to share with you photos taken of Lillian this past Sunday, June 6, the day of her Baptism.

WELCOME TO LILLIAN'S SPECIAL DAY

I welcome you with utmost pride to participate in celebrating with our family and friends an unbelievable journey of smiles, twinkling eyes, chunky cheeks, and the unabashed posing of a baby girl who always knows where the camera is.

Baby Lillian is ready for her big day and patiently poses in a baptismal gown that is almost 96 years old! She is the 5th person to be baptized in this dress along with her 3 year old brother, her mother, me, and my mother who will be 96 in September. The dress was made in 1914 by a friend of my grandmother's for my mother's Baptism. Unfortunately the gown has some holes in it so I must have an experienced and very skillful seamstress repair the dress for the next generation to wear. I don't know if my grandson's future wife will want their children baptized in this gown, but Lillian has to have her children baptized in it as she is the next female descendant in line. Needless to say, this gown is a true family heirloom....that almost met its demise this past Sunday! My daughter re-wrapped the gown and slip in the white tissue paper I had it in and unwittingly gave it to my husband to hold. As everyone was walking out of the church, my husband said that he needed to find a trash can. I was too busy talking and taking pictures so I really didn't pay much attention to him or what he kept saying. Fortunately I turned around just in time to ask him what he was doing with the bunched up tissue paper (and I mean he had really bunched it up). His reply, "I'm going to throw away the diaper that Karen gave me"!!!!! Thankfully my son-in-law's sister was near me and kept me from falling in the church's main aisle!
In this next photo, Lillian is sucking on the heirloom baptismal gown and undergarment. I don't know if the gown originally had a slip for my mom's Baptism, but the dress now has the slip in this photo. My mother made it for my Baptism and it is cut from her wedding dress slip. The gown is from 1914 and the slip is from my mother's 1943 wedding slip.

My daughter and granddaughter visit with family and friends before the Baptism.
You have to understand that Lillian is a very social baby who enjoys attention and smiles from onlookers.
In the next photo, you can see that Lillian is totally uninterested in what the priest is saying. She was probably laughing for her Uncle Ed who was serving as the family photographer for the event.
Finally the priest gets Lillian's attention as he seems undaunted by her antics. During the ceremony, the priest underscored the importance of the sacrament of Baptism.
You can easily see in this next photo that Lillian is definitely not undernourished.
She has chubby cheeks and the cutest legs, arms and hands.
Again Lillian saw a camera and she decided that posing and smiling was way more fun than having her head and hair wet from the pouring of the baptismal holy water. You can also see a full-length view of the gown in this photo.
Lillian relaxes after her Baptism and she decides that her fingers are pretty tasty. I'll have to remind her that when she is older she can't suck on her fingers or people will think that she is uncouth!
Here is my daughter with her husband and my precious grandchildren posing as the united, loving family that they are.
My daughter had to unfasten the buttons on the gown and undress Lillian in the church so Lillian could wear her regular clothes for her party. Of course Lillian had to smile once again for the camera!
Lillian is enjoying her brother's puzzle and she seems unconcerned that there is a party at her house.
Everyone's unanimous opinion is that Lillian was not uncooperative any time during the day. She was a delightful doll with her smiles, coos, and laughter.
My unbridled opinion is that my granddaughter is a beautiful, happy baby with a personality that draws people to her. I thank God everyday for blessing me with two treasures to love with all my heart and spoil with all my hugs and kisses.

This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "U".

T is for turquoise and things

Our letter for this week's assignment is the letter "T". Mrs. Matlock has been a wonderful teacher and I have really enjoyed her class and all of our assignments. We only have 6 more weeks and then Alphabe-Thursday will end, but I hope that Mrs. Matlock comes up with more things for our class to blog about.

TURQUOISE THINGS

I found this turquoise vase at a yard sale for $1.00!!! It was late in the day so I'm surprised that this lovely vase was still available.This turquoise purse has a southwestern flair. Unfortunately the zipper is broken or I would use it!

I found this turquoise jewelry at Stein-Mart and I really liked it. It work well with a pretty top and white pants. I'm not sure if the material is tortoise shell or abalone.
I found this darling cup and saucer at an estate sale. It is Aynsley and I was drawn to the color and the detail.
What would turquoise be without the wonderful color of this Tiffany box? For my daughter's bridal shower, the hostess had a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme, so there was a lot of Tiffany blue/turquoise around. The locket and the chewed up ring in the photo were mine when I was a baby. Why I had a baby ring, I'll never know! Why I never choked on it, I'll never know! I have a 16x20 picture of me as a baby wearing this locket, and I hope to get a photo of my granddaughter wearing it as well. Why I never took a picture of my daughter wearing the locket, I'll never know!

~~~~~Miscellaneous "T" things~~~~~

This oval picture is of my tuckered out grandson asleep against the wall. He looks so cute in his baby jeans with the pant-legs rolled up!

I found this truffle dish at a yard sale for .75!!!! I think I also paid $1.00 for the harlequin candle holders.

This train was made by my mother who spent hours knitting it and putting it together.
This tissue holder was also found at a yard sale. It pretty much states how I feel and look without my daily dose of chocolate!
This teddy bear is older than I am since my mother bought it when she found out that she was pregnant. The arms and legs move on the teddy bear but the head no longer moves back and forth. Apparently my older cousin was very mischievous and he stepped on the teddy bear's neck causing the movable mechanism to break. Fortunately my mother had it repaired and no one would know the difference.
The teddy bear is sitting on my baby rocker and they are both displayed in my guest room.
This teddy bear is showing a lot of patriotism by waving the American flag. This plate is part of my patriotic decor that I have displayed throughout my house for Memorial Day and the 4th of July.
This tea set is from the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair. My mother bought it and she has kept it all these years. This photo is from my previous house, but the tea set is also proudly on display in my current home. The shelving belonged to my grandmother and it is very old. The two Japanese figurines on the top shelf are "occupied Japan", the alabaster dogs on the bottom shelf came from Italy when my dad returned from WWII, and the yellow shoe has been around since I can remember. I think all my aunts had a shoe like this but I don't know why.
This closes my paper on the letter "T". Visit my classmates and enjoy their "T" presentations as well. This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "T".